.,,Vi,|.,  V, 
.  'V'  ■ 

If, 


Present( 

PRINCETON,  N.  J.                         ^ 

,  '0  '^, 

3d  by  Vro'  .S>~Y^.\J^cAA\<^Va, 

Division  ........Trrrr.Vr'Vi-— «» 

THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY 
OF  1893 


AND 


THE  CASE  OF  DR.  BRIGGS. 


V 
REPORT  OF  THOS.  McDOUGALL. 


Cincinnati   Commercial   Gazette,   Thursday,  June 
8,  1893. 


CINCINNATI,  O.: 
Elm  Street  Printing  Co.,  Nos,  176  and  178  Elm  St. 
1893. 


Cincinnati  Commercial  Gazette,  Thursday,  June 
8,1893. 


THOS.  McDOUGALVS  REPORT. 


The  Bri^rgrs  Case— WTiy  tlie  tJeneral  As- 
sembly Fouiid  I>r.  Brigrss  Ouilty— Vital 
Points  Explained  and  the  Issnes  Defined 
—The  Judicial  Decision  Settles  the  Faith 
of  the  Chnrch- Dr.  Brigrgs'  Character 
Not  Assailed,  Neither  the  Sincerity  of 
His  Belief.  

At  the  regular  weekly  prayer-meeting 
of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Wal- 
nut Hills,  on  June  7,  Thos.  McDougall 
made  his  report  of  the  late  General  As- 
sembly held  in  "Washington,  D.  C,  JVEr. 
McDougall  said: 

Brethren — It  was  my  privilege  to  attend 
the  late  General  Assembly  of  our  Church 
as  a  commissioner  from  this  Presbytery. 
According  to  the  custom  of  our  Church, 
permit  me  to  make  report  to  you  as  fol- 
lows: 

The  105th  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  held  its  sessions  at 
Washington    City,   beginning   Thursday, 


May  18,  at  11  A.M.,  and  continuing  daily, 
Sabbaths  excepted,  till  Thursday,  June  1, 
at  10  P.M.,  when  it  was  duly  dissolved. 
Never  having  attended  any  other  General 
Assembly^  I  am  unable,  even  if  it  were 
proper,  to  make  comparisons  with  the  per- 
sonnel and  dispatch  of  business  of  former 
Assemblies. 

In  the  Assembly,  as  commissioners, 
were  no  less  than  five  ex  Moderators — 
Drs.  Smith,  Nichols,  Johnson,  Thompson 
and  Young.  Among  the  ministerial  com- 
missioners were  many  of  the  most  emi- 
nent pastors,  scholars  and  teachers  of  our 
Church.  In  the  eldership  were  to  be  found 
judges  of  Federal  and  State  Courts,  men 
of  great  experience  in  business,  and  mem- 
bers of  the  legal  and  other  professions 
who  had  obtained  more  or  less  eminence 
therein.  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a 
body  of  men  numbering  580  more  decid- 
edly representative  of  our  great  Church, 
and  better  fitted  to  discharge  the  diflicult 
duties  and  onerous  trusts  imposed  upon 
them.  In  all  its  deliberations  it  was  a 
calm,  earnest,  impartial  and  dignified 
body. 

THE  WORK  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

The  reports  of  the  various  Boards  and 
agencies  charged  with  the  great  work  of 
the  Church  evidenced  that  the  past  year 


has  been  one  of  great  spiritual  and  ma- 
terial prosperity  in  our  Church.  For  the 
first  time  in  its  history  the  contributions  to 
Foreign  Missions  exceeded  one  million  dol- 
lars, and  this  while  the  sum  given  to  Home 
Missions  was  very  nearly  as  much.  The 
actual  addition  to  the  membership  of  the 
Church  was  greater  than  in  any  preceding 
year,  and  all  departments  of  the  Church's 
work  evidenced  substantial  growth,  and 
the  presence  and  operation  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  the  upbuilding  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ. 

The  theological  seminaries  of  our 
Church  occupied  an  important  part  of  the 
consideration  of  the  Assembly,  and  such 
action  was  taken  and  information  given 
as  may  bring  the  training-schools  of  our 
ministry  into  closer  relations  with  the 
General  Assembly,  and  place  them  un- 
der more  effective  control.  To  all  of  us 
present  there  was  great  cause  Tor  rejoic- 
ing m  the  manifest  tokens  of  divine  favor 
in  the  record  of  the  past  year. 

The  Moderator,  Dr.  Craig,  commanded 
the  affection  and  confidence  of  every  mem- 
ber of  the  Assembly.  Fair,  clear-headed, 
firm  and  impartial,  with  a  large  measure 
of  God's  spirit,  he  conducted  the  great 
Assembly  in  all  its  departments  of  busi- 
ness so  as  to  unite  all  differences  of  opin- 


ion  at  its  close  in  a  hearty,  unanimous 
vote  of  thanks  for  his  conduct. 

Our  beloved  Church  has  stood  pre-emi- 
nent in  the  past  for  obedience  to  properly 
constituted  authority,  for  loyalty  to  its  his- 
tori  5  faith,  for  fidelity  to  every  obligation, 
including  the  ordination  vovr;  for  implicit 
submission  to  the  will,  purposes  and  de- 
crees of  almighty  God,  and  for  an  un- 
swerving and  unflinching  loyalty  to  the 
Word  of  God.  In  so  doing,  she  has 
wrought  for  the  race  in  the  past  more  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  done  more 
for  the  up-building  of  Christ-like  charac- 
ter which  rests  on  conviction  and  implicit 
faith  in  God's  revealed  will,  than  any 
other  denomination  in  Christendom. 

THE  CASE  OF  DR.  BRIGGS. 

A  part  of  the  business  of  the  Assembly 
w^as  the  trial  of  judicial  cases,  one  of 
which  has  attained  marked  notoriety  in 
the  past  few  years — the  case  of  Dr. 
Briggs.  It  came  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly on  appeal  from  the  judgment  of  ac- 
quittal by  the  New  York  Presbytery, 
Dr.  Briggs  was  tried  in  his  Presbytery  on 
certain  charges  involving  a  violation  of 
his  ordination  vow,  by  teaching  doctrines 
contrary  to  Holy  Scripture,  and  the  es- 
sential doctrines  cootained  in  the  Stand- 


ards  of  our  Church.  There  were  eight 
charges  in  all;  two  of  these,  numbers 
four  and  seven,  were  not  tried  on  their 
merits  by  the  Presbytery.  The  trial  was 
had  on  charg;e8  one,  two,  three,  five.^six 
and  eight.  One  and  two  charged  Dr. 
Briggs  with  teaching  that  the  reason  and 
the  Church  are  fountains  of  divine  au- 
thority with  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Three, 
five  and  six  involved  the  inerrancy  of  the 
Holy  Scripture,  and  the  questions  wheth- 
er Moses  wrote  the  Pentateuch,  and  Isaiah 
the  whole  of  the  book  which  bears  his 
name. 

Number  eight  involved  the  doctrine  of 
the  middle  state,  or  progressive  sanctifi- 
cation  after  death.  On  these  six  charges 
the  Presbytery  of  New  York  acquitted 
Dr.  Briggs  by  a  majority,  at  the  same 
time  declining  to  approve  his  views,  but 
holding  that  they  did  not  violate  the  lib- 
erty of  scholarship  allowed  within  our 
Church.  It  would  not  be  wise  for  me  at 
this  time  to  enter  into  any  discussion  of 
what  have  been  called  the  technical  er- 
rors in  procedure  wiih  which  the  New 
York  Presbytery  was  charged  in  the 
case. 

THE  TEACHINGS  OF  DR.   BRIGGS. 

It  was  claimed  by  the  Church,  through 
its  Prosecuting  Committee,  that  Dr.  Briggs 


8 


had  taught  that  Martineau,  the  rational- 
ist, who  denied  the  divinity  of  Christ,  his 
atonement,  his  miracles  and  the  super 
natural  in  religion,  had  found  God  the 
Father  through  the  reason,  independent 
of  the  Scriptures;  and  that  Newman,  a 
Cardinal  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
failing  to  find  God  in  the  Bible,  found 
him  in  the  Church,  and  that  these  two 
men  were  representative  Christians,  and 
had  found  salvation  through  the  reason 
and  the  Church,  irrespective  of  the  Word 
of  God;  and  this,  contrary  to  the  express 
statement  of  Christ  "that  no  man  can 
come  to  the  Father  but  by  me,"  and  to 
the  essential  doctrine  of  Holy  Scripture 
and  the  Standards  of  our  Church. 

It  was  claimed  by  Dr.  Briggs  that  his 
language  was  not  susceptible  of  the  inter- 
pretation thus  placed  upon  it  by  the  Pros- 
ecuting Committee.  On  the  issue  thus 
joined,  the  General  Assembly  sustained 
the  Prosecuting  Committee,  and  found 
Dr.  Briggs  guilty  as  charged. 

THE  INERRANCY  CHARGES. 

As  to  the  inerrancy  of  the  Holy  Script- 
ures, it  was  claimed  by  the  prosecution 
that  Dr.  Briggs  had  stated  that  there  may 
have  been,  and  probably  were,  errors  in 
the  original  Scriptures  as  they  came  from 


9 


God,  and  that  he  in  fact  clain2ed  there 
were  errors  of  history  and  of  fact  iz?  the 
Holy  Scriptures  as  we  now  have  them, 
which,  however,  Dr.  Briggs  claimed  did 
not  aflfect  the  value  of  the  Bible,  nor  his 
belief  in  it  as  an  infallible  rule  of  faith 
and  practice.  It  was  claimed  by  the 
prosecution  that  the  teaching  of  Dr. 
Briggs  that  Moses  did  not  write  the 
Pentateuch  was  contrary  to  the  express 
statements  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  his 
claim  that  Isaiah  did  not  write  the  latter 
half  of  the  Book  of  Isaiah  was  contrary 
to  the  express  statements  of  God,  in  Holy 
Scripture,  as  found  in  Matthew,  Luke 
John  and  Romans. 

THE    ISSUES    VITAL. 

The  issues  thus  joined  were,  in  the 
judgment  of  the  General  Assembly,  fun- 
damental and  vital.  They  involved  the 
veracity,  omniscience  and  absolute  truth- 
fulness of  Almighty  God,  and  of  our  Lord 
and  Savior,  Jesus  Christ.  On  all  of  the 
issues  joined  by  charges  three,  five  and 
six,  involving  the  inerrancy  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  the  General  Assembly  found 
Dr.  Briggs  guilty,  and  decided  that  it  was 
the  doctrine  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
that  the  Scriptures,  as  they  came  from 
God,    were    without   error,    and   that  no 


10 


errors  now  exist  in  the  Bible,  save  such 
mipAft-kes  as  are  the  work  of  copyists, 
printers  and  translators.  That  the  doc- 
trine that  the  Scriptures  as  they  came 
from  God  were  inerrant  is  essential  to  be- 
lief in  any  revelation,  and  that  God,  who 
never  makes  mistakes,  and  is  truth  itself, 
can  not  commit  or  countenance  error  or 
falsehood  in  his  Word. 

The  General  Assembly  announced  its 
doctrines  on  these  subjects  as  follows: 

First — We  find  that  the  doctrine  of  the 
errancy  of  Scripture,  as  it  came  to  them 
to  whom  and  through  whom  God  origi- 
nally communicated  his  revelation,  is  in 
conflict  with  the  statements  of  Holy 
Scripture  icself,  which  asserts  that  all 
Scripture,  or  every  Scripture,  is  given  by 
the  inspiration  of  God  (2  Tim.  iii.  16);  that 
the  prophecy  came  not  of  old  by  the  will 
of  man,  but  that  holy  men  of  God  spake 
as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  (2 
Peter  i.  21),  and  also  with  the  statements 
of  the  Standards  of  the  Church,  which  as- 
sert that  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments  are  the  word  of  God 
(Larger  Catechism,  Question  3),  of  infal- 
lible proof  and  divine  authority  (Confes- 
sion, Chap.  I.,  Sec.  5). 

Second — We  find  in  this  case  involved 
the  question  of  the  sufficiency  of  the  hu- 


11 


man  reason  and  the  Church,  as  author- 
ized guides  in  the  matter  of  salvation. 
Your  committee  recommends  that  this 
General  Assembly  declare  that  the  reason 
and  the  Church  are  not  to  be  regarded  as 
fountains  oi  divine  authority;  that  they 
are  unreliable  and  variable,  and  whilst 
they  may  be,  and  no  doubt  are,  channels 
or  media  through  which  the  Holy  Spirit 
may  reach  and  influence  for  good  the 
human  soul,  they  are  not  to  be  relied  on 
as  sufficient  in  themselves,  and  aside  from 
Holy  Scripture,  to  lead  the  soul  to  a  sav- 
ing knowledge  of  God.  To  teach  other- 
wise is  most  dangerous,  and  contrary  to 
the  Word  of  God  and  our  Standards,  and 
our  ministers  and  churches  are  solemnly 
warned  against  them. 

Third — We  find  involved  in  this  case  a 
speculation  in  regard  to  the  process  of  the 
soul's  sanc'ification  after  death,  which,  in 
the  judgment  of  this  A.ssembly,  is  a  dan- 
gerous hypothesis,  in  direct  conflict  with 
the  plain  teachings  of  the  divine  Word 
and  the  utterances  of  the  Standards  of 
our  Church.  Those  Standards  distinctly 
declare  that  the  souls  of  believers  are,  at 
their  death,  made  perfect  in  holiness,  and 
do  immediately  pass  into  glory,  whilst 
their  bodies,  being  still  united  to  Christ, 
do  rest  in  their  graves  till  the  resurrection. 


12 


(Shorter  Catechism,  (^ues.  37;  1  Cor.  v.  3; 
Phil.  i.  23;  John  xvii.  24.) 

THE    FAITH    OF    THE    CHURCH    SETTLED. 

8o  far,  then,  as  judicial  decision  and 
the  General  Assembly  can  settle  the  faith 
of  our  Church  as  to  these  doctrines,  it  has 
been  settled.  More  or  less  of  misappre- 
hension and  misunderstanding  has  existed 
touching  the  issues  involved  in  this  case. 
They  were  not  questions  of  policy,  nor  of 
ecclesiastical  government,  nor  liberty  of 
scholarship;  they  were,  in  the  judgment 
of  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  teachings  which  struck  at 
the  vitals  of  religion,  and  vshich,  having 
been  industriously  spread,  came  within 
the  definition  of  what  our  Church  calls 
heresy,  and  the  violation  of  the  ordination 
vow  of  Dr.  Briggs.  It  is  the  faith  of  our 
Church  that  the  Bible,  in  all  its  details, 
its  doctrine  and  its  history,  from  Genesis 
to  Revelation,  is  the  W  ord  of  God,  without 
error,  on  which  the  soul  of  man  may  rest 
with  perfect  safety,  as  the  only  and  final 
authority  in  all  matters  of  faith  and 
practice. 

THE    CHARACTER    OF    DR.    BRIGGS. 

Let  us  bear  in  mind  that  the  character 
of  Dr.  Briggs  was  not  on  trial  in  this 
case;  neither  was  the  sincerity  of  his  be- 


13 


lief  in  his  views;  nor  was  the  question 
betore  the  court  as  to  whether  or  not  Dr. 
Brig^s  was  a  Christian,  in  the  sense  of 
being  saved  by  Jesus  Christ,  God  alone 
has  jurisdiction  to  determine  the  final 
destiny  of  every  human  soul.  Dr.  Briggs 
obtained  the  position  0/  minister  in  our 
Church  by  subscribing  to  its  ordination 
vow,  by  which  he  obligated  himself  to 
maintain  the  faith,  the  peace  and  the 
purity  of  the  Church.  The  General  As- 
sembly found  him  guilty  of  a  violation  of 
his  ordination  vow;  found  that  he  had 
used  the  position  he  obtained  to  maintain 
the  faith  of  the  Church  to  assail  it;  found 
he  was  not  a  Presbyterian,  and,  in  the 
exercise  of  the  powers  given  to  it  by  the 
constitution,  to  the  exercise  of  which  Dr. 
Briggs,  by  his  ordination  vow,  assented, 
proceeded  to  try  him,  not  for  the  viola- 
tion of  the  moral  law;  not  in  a  case  in- 
volving hi;^  character;  not  whether  he 
was  a  gentleman — but  solely  to  determine 
whether  his  teaching  was  in  harmony 
with  the  faith  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
which  he  obligated  himself  to  maintain 
and  teach  when  he  voluntarily  sought  its 
ministry. 

LIBERTY    AND   ORGANIZATION. 

Much  has  been  said  about  liberty,  tol- 


14 


eratlon  and  forbearance.  The  question 
presented  to  the  General  Assembly  in- 
volved the  existence  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  as  a  denomination,  and  its  funda- 
mental faith,  and  could  only  be  tried  and 
settled  by  the  supreme  court  of  that 
Church,  which  Dr.  Briggs  had  obligated 
himself,  by  the  terms  of  its  ordination 
vow,  to  submit  to.  This  is  the  law  of 
every  civil  and  social  organization.  When 
a  Free  Mason  or  an  Odd  Fellow  is  charged 
with  a  violation  of  the  terms  on  which  he 
has  obtained  admission  to  the  organiza- 
tion, the  question  is  determined,  not  by 
the  person  who  is  charged  with  the  vio- 
lation, nor  by  his  interpretation  of  his 
conduct,  but  by  the  supreme  authority  or 
court  constituted  by  the  organization  to 
try  the  case.  It  is  not  settled  by  outside 
public  opinion,  nor  by  the  views  of  the 
public  press.  The  Presbyterian  Church 
has  never  taken  its  faith  from  the  secular 
press,  nor  from  its  self-constituted  advis- 
ers not  within  its  pale.  Vital  to  the  ex- 
istence of  all  voluntary  organizations  is  a 
full  and  loyal  compliance,  by  its  member- 
ship, with  the  terms  upon  which  they 
obtain  entrance  to  it.  One  of  my  warmest 
personal  friends  is  a  gentleman  living  in 
another  city,  a  Roman  Catholic,  a  gentle- 
man  of  the   highest  character,  and  for 


15 


whom  I  have  a  strong  affection.  But  I 
do  not  regard  him  as  a  pfood  Presbyterian, 
nor  does  he  regard  me  as  a  good  Roman 
Catholic,  and  this  without  in  any  way 
affecting  the  estimate  each  has  of  the 
other's  character. 

WHAT   OUR   CHURCH    HAS    DONE. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  has  settled, 
so  far  as  she  can  settle  for  evangelical 
Protestantism,  the  historic  faith  of  the 
Protestant  Church  in  the  inerrant  Word 
of  God.  Those  who  do  no*  believe  in  an 
inerrant  Bible  are  free  as  the  air  to  as- 
sail it  on  the  outside,  by  "higher"  or 
lower  or  any  other  criticism;  but  no  man 
has  a  right  to  assail  the  faith  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  who  has  obtained  admis- 
sion to  its  membership,  and  vowed  to 
maintain  its  faith.  He  can  not  rightfully 
use  the  position  he  has  acquired  by  a 
vow  to  upholds  the  faith,  to  assail  it  in 
the  house  of  its  friends.  This,  as  we 
have  said,  is  not  a  question  of  policy;  it 
is  not  a  question  of  toleration;  it  is  a 
question  of  fidelity  to  the  ordination  vow, 
obedience  to  properly  constituted  author- 
ity, and  loyalty  to  the  historic  faith  of  the 
Church. 

NO   BITTERNESS    NOR    PRE-JUDGMENT. 

There  was  no  bitterness  nor  partiality 


16 


nor  pre-judging  in  the  trial  of  Dr.  Briggs. 
Each  member  of  the  General  Assembly 
had  settled  convictions  as  to  the  terms  of 
the  ordination  vow  he  himself  had  taken, 
and  as  to  what  was  the  historic  faith  of 
the  Church.  Because  he  had  these  con- 
victions ani  this  knowledge,  he  was  com- 
petent to  sit  in  judgment  on  Dr.  Briggs, 
and  not  otherwise.  When  was  the  judge 
of  a  court  ever  charged  with  pre-judging 
a  case  because  he  had  fixed  convictions  as 
to  what  the  law  was  governing  the  case, 
and  had  applied  its  rules  in  other  cases 
than  the  one  on  trial?  It  is  childish  to 
talk  of  pre-judging  this  case.  Only  those 
men  are  fitted  to  be  judges  who  have 
knowledge  of  the  law,  and  convictions  as 
to  what  it  is,  and  those  who  voted  against 
Dr.  Briggs  no  more  pre-judged  the  case 
than  those  who  voted  for  him  Oar  be- 
loved Church,  pre  eminent  in  the  scholar- 
ship of  her  ministry,  has  afibrded  the 
largest  liberty  in  scholarship  consistent 
with  her  ordination  vows  and  loyalty  to 
her  historic  faith.  She  asks,  and  she  has 
a  right  to  demand,  of  her  sons  that  their 
scholarship  and  their  service  shall  be  de- 
voted to  the  maintenance  of  her  faith  and 
the  upbuilding  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 


17 


THE   SENTENCE. 

The  sentence  of  the  court  was  suspen- 
sion of  Dr.  Briggs  from  the  office  ot  the 
ministry  of  the  Church  till  such  time  as 
he  should  give  to  the  court  satisfactory 
evidence  of  repentance.  This  sentence 
has  been  criticised  by  some  as  being  too 
severe.  In  view  of  the  declarations  of 
Dr.  Briggs  in  his  defense  before  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  that  he  sincerely  believed 
m  the  views  and  teachings  condemned, 
and  would  continue  to  teach  them  as  long 
as  he  lived;  and  in  view  of  the  letter  he 
wrote  to  the  sub-committee  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Judgment,  refusing  to  retract 
anything  he  had  said,  and  adfiering  to  all 
of  the  views  he  had  uttered  on  the  floor 
of  the  Assembly,  no  other  sentence  was 
possible  if  the  court  was  to  respect  itself 
and  the  Church  was  to  preserve  its  or- 
ganization. 

HOW  THE  SENTENCE  WAS  REACHED. 

The  sentence  was  adopted  unanimously 
by  the  committee  of  fifteen,  and  on  its 
presentation  to  the  Assembly,  that  body 
adopted  it,  without  any  substantial  oppo- 
sition, or  request  for  its  modification. 
The  action  of  Dr.  Briggs,  his  declared  pur- 
poses and  the  sincerity  ot  his  belief  pre- 
cluded any  lighter  sentence.     It  may  in- 


18 


terest  you,  however,  to  know  what  has 
not  yet  been  f:;iven  to  the  public,  that 
when  the  committee  of  fifteen,  appointed 
by  the  Assembly  to  draft  the  judgment, 
met  on  Thursday  morning  at  the  Ebbitt 
House,  it  appointed  a  sub-committee  of 
three,  consisting  of  Drs.  Baker  and 
Brooks  and  myself,  to  wait  on  Dr.  Briggs, 
and  ascertain  from  him  his  views  as  to 
the  disposition  of  the  case.  That  com- 
mittee of  fifteen  unanimously  agreed  that 
the  sub  committee  should  present  to  Dr. 
Briggs,  if  he  gave  to  us  any  indication  of 
a  willingness  to  accept  the  decision  of  the 
court,  and  abide  by  it,  the  following: 

"The  supreme  court  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  having  found  you  guilty  of 
a  violation  of  your  ordination  vow  as  a 
minister  of  our  Church,  as  charged  in 
this  case,  in  holding,  teaching  and  propa- 
gating views,  teachings  and  doctrines  con- 
trary to  and  destructive  of  fundamental 
doctrines  of  the  faith  and  Standards  of 
our  denomination  as  interpreted  by  said 
supreme  court,  will  you  now  hereby 
agree  and  solemnly  promise,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  God  and  before  this  supreme 
judiciary  of  our  Church — on  being  ad- 
monished and  enjoined  to  withdraw,  in 
so  far  as  you  can.  and  to  cease  from 
uttering,    teaching    or   in    any     manner 


19 


propagating  the  views,  teachings  and  doc- 
trines set  forth  in  said  charges,  and  as 
contained  in  said  inaugural  address — to 
express  your  sincere  regret  and  sorrow 
for  your  violation  of  your  ordination  vow, 
and  to  cease  from  uttering,  teaching  or 
in  any  manner  propagating  said  views, 
teachings  and  doctrines  so  condemned  in 
this  case,  and  as  interpreted  by  this 
supreme  court  in  this  case,  so  long  as 
you  remain  a  minister  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America?" 

When  I  stated  to  Dr.  Briggs  that  the 
committee  had  authorized  us  to  submit  a 
paper,  he  respectfully  declined  to  receive 
it,  or  to  have  it  read,  although  ignorant 
of  its  contents.  It  is  only  fair  to  say 
that  had  Dr.  Briggs,  on  the  decision  of 
the  case  by  the  supreme  court  of  our 
Church,  agreed  to  accept  and  abide  by 
it,  and  cease  teaching  the  views  which 
had  been  condemned,  the  sentence  would 
probably  have  been  only  admonition,  and 
he  would  have  been  allowed  to  exercise 
all  the  functions  of  his  office 

THE  ATTACKS  ON  THE  ASSEMBLY. 

The  attacks  on  this  sentence,  and  the 
action  of  the  General  Assembly,  by  cer- 
tain ministers  and  theological  professors, 


20 


are  deeply  to  be  regretted.  No  member 
of  the  legal  profession  would  dare  attack 
the  conduct  and  decisions  of  his  supreme 
court,  as  certain  ministers  and  teachers 
of  the  ministry  in  our  Church  have  as- 
sailed the  decisions  and  action  of  their 
supreme  court.  If  he  did,  he  would  be 
disbarred,  and  prohibited  from  exercising 
the  functions  of  his  office.  Respect  for 
and  obedience  to  authority  are  essential 
to  the  maintenance  of  government.  It  is 
worse  than  childish  to  abuse  the  court  that 
has  decided  a  case  against  us,  especially 
when  that  court  is  the  one  we  have 
voluntarily  agreed  should  decide  our  case. 
No  man  is  forced  to  enter  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  She  is  a  voluntary  relig- 
ious organization.  Every  minister  that 
enters  that  Church  does  so  of  his  own 
motion,  and  subject  to  its  obligations 
which  he  voluntarily  assumes,  one  of 
which  is  that  in  all  questions  touching 
the  violation  of  his  ordination  vow  and 
the  duration  of  his  ecclesiastical  life,  and 
involving  the  doctrines  and  faith  of  the 
Church,  the  General  Assembly,  as  the 
supreme  court  of  the  Church,  shall 
finally  decide.  He  has  not  had  a  com- 
plete trial  of  his  case  until  that  supreme 
court  has  sat  in  judgment  thereon,  and 
it  is  only  from  its  judgment  of  acquittal 


'21 


or  conviction  that  no  right  of  appeal  oj* 
second  trial  lies. 

It  is,  as  we  have  said,  deeply  to  be 
regretted  that  ministers  of  our  Church, 
and  especially  teachers  who  have  the 
molding  of  the  future  ministry  of  the 
Church,  are  to  be  found  attempting  to 
discredit  our  supreme  court,  and  inciting 
disrespect  and  disobedience  to  its  man- 
dates. This  is  not  liberty,  but  license. 
It  is  not  toleration,  but  intolerance  in  its 
worst  form.  No-  society  or  government 
or  church  can  exist  that  does  not  secure 
from  its  membership  obedience  to  and 
respect  for  its  authority,  within  constitu- 
tional lines. 

IDLE  TALK  OF  SCHISM. 

It  is  idle  to  talk,  as  some  have  done,  of 
schism  in  our  midst.  No  man  or  body  of 
men  in  our  Church  have  ever  been  essen- 
tial to  her  welfare.  When  God  has  served 
his  purposes  with  each  of  us  here,  and 
called  us  home  to  himself,  his  Church  and 
his  kingdom  will  triumph,  arid  work  out 
their  God-given  destiny.  My  sole  interest 
in  the  questions  in  issue  was  the  main- 
tenance of  the  historic  faith  of  our 
Church.  Standing  face  to  face  with  the 
problems  of  sin,  loss,  sorrow  and  death, 
we,  the  creatures  of  a  day  who  know  not 


22 


anything  apart  from  what  God  has  re- 
vealed, hungering  ior  certainty  here  and 
hereafter,  and  for  the  fellowship  of  the 
sainted  who  have  passed  on  before,  when 
the  question  of  the  inerrancy  of  the  Word 
of  Almighty  God  was  raised,  when  confi- 
dence in  that  which  of  necessity  must  be 
certain  to  warrant  the  faith  of  any  hu- 
man soul  was  assailed — can  you  blame 
us  who  believe  in  God  and  his  inerrant 
Word,  for  seeking  to  settle,  so  far  as  the 
Church  can  settle  it,  what  its  faith  in  Al- 
mighty God  and  his  Word  was  and  is? 
No  God  who  makes  mistakes,  or  coun- 
tenances error  or  falsehood  as  his  Word, 
or  permits  it  to  pass  current  as  his  truth, 
is  worthy  of  the  faith  of  any  humaa  soul. 
No  heart  can  rest  with  safety  its  eternal 
destiny  on  a  God  who  is  fallible. 

WHICH  TO  BELIEVE — GOD  OR  DR    BRIGGS? 

When  Dr.  Briggs  said  that  Isaiah  did 
not  write  the  latter  part  of  the  book  that 
bears  his  name,  that  he  was  dead  when 
that  was  written,  and  that  the  words  in  the 
latter  part  of  Tsaiah  were  neither  written 
nor  spoken  by  him;  and  when  God,  in  the 
New  Testament,  expressly  declares  that 
Isaiah  did  write,  did  speak  the  words 
contained  therein,  the  question  presented 
was  not  one  of  science,  of  theology,  of  his- 


tory  or  of  difference  of  opinion,  but  was  a 
clear,  sharp,  well-defined  issue  of  omni- 
science and  veracity  between  Almighty 
God  and  Dr.  Briggs,  and  one  which  strikes 
at  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  our  faith 
and  the  value  of  the  Word  of  God 

Beloved  brethren,  without  any  bitter- 
ness, but  with  intense  earnestness  fcr  the 
faith  on  which  hangs  the  eternal  destiny 
of  my  immortal  soul,  and  jealous  of  the 
honor  and  character  of  my  God  and 
Saviour,  I  hav-e  spoken  and  acted  as  I  have. 
I  close  this  statement  with  the  beautiful 
words  of  Cowper.  when  he  compares  the 
poor  cottager  with  Voltaire : 

''Yon  cottager,  who  weaves  at  her  own  door, 
Pillow  and  bobbins  all  her  little  store  ; 
Content,  though  mean,  and  cheerful,  if  not  gay, 
Shuffling  her  threads  about  the  livelong  day. 
Just  earns  a  scanty  pittance,  and  at  night 
Lies  down  secure,  her  heart  and  pocket  light  ; 
She,  for  her  humble  sphere  by  nature  fit. 
Has  little  understanding,  and  no  wit. 
Receives  no  praise  ;  but,  though  her  lot  be  such 
(Toilsome  and  indigent),  she  renders  much  ; 
Just  knows,  and  knows  no  more,  h^r  Bible  true — 
A  truth  the  brilliant  Frenchman  never  knew ; 
And  in  that  charter  reads  with  sparkling  Cj^es 
Her  tit'e  to  a  treasure  in  the  skies. 

"0  happy  peasant  !    0  unhappy  bard  ! 
Hi8  the  mere  tinsel,  hers  the  rich  reward  ; 
He  praised  perhaps  for  ages  yet  to  come, 
She  never  heard  of  half  a  mile  from  home  ; 


He,  lost  in  errors  his  vain  heart  prefers. 
She  safe  in  the  simplicity  of  hem.'''' 


God  give  us  the   cottager's  simple  faith 
for  time  and  eternity,  as  the  treasure  be- 


yond  price.  May  the  Holy  8pirit  so  clar- 
ify our  minds,  so  purify  our  hearts,  so 
consecrate  us  to  the  service  of  the  blessed 
Christ,  that  our  beloved  Presbyterian 
Church— Church  of  our  fathers— loyal  to 
her  historic  faith,  to  the  Word  of  the 
eternal  God,  and  believing  in  the  abso- 
lute truthfulness  of  Him  who  spake  as 
never  man  spake,  be  led  on  to  greater 
conquests  of  human  hearts,  greater  vic- 
tories for  that  kingdom  of  Christ  which  is 
within  us,  and  which  is  righteousness 
and  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Spirit. 


Date  Due 

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